Electrically-operated machine for scraping irregular wooden surfaces



' 1. A. WATROUS.

ELECTRIOALLY OPERATED MACHINE FOR SCRAFING IRREGULAR WOODEN SURFACES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 9. 1921.

1,392,543. Patented Oct. 4, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

E I. A. WATROUS. ELECTRICALLY OPERATED MACHI NE FOR SCRAPING IRREGULAR WOODEN SURFACES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 9,1921- 1,392,543. Patented 06a 4, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

\I j L g 5 1mm LII lRIh Ll fwm ISAAC A. WATROUS, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

ELEC TBICALLY-OPERATED macnmn roR SCRAPING IRREGULAR WOODEN SURFACES.

To' all whom it my 00mm;-

Beit known. that I, ISAAC A. WATROUS, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Electrically-Operated Machines for Scraping Irregular Wooden Surfaces; and-Ido declare the following, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled. in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same."

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in butcher block cleaners and while particularly directed to the cleaning of butcher blocks is nevertheless not so limited in its. use, but may bejemployed withequal facility in scraping or cleaning work benches, or'any other surface of irregular shape, 11. e., convex orconcave or'alternative combinations of the two.

The primary object of the invention is to I provide a device of this type which involves a preferably electrically rotated cutter, the latter being bodily resiliently mounted and in turn having resilientlyfmounted cutting I teeth so that what might be termed a compound. resiliency results, enabling the cuttersto seek and conform'themselves to the irregular surfaces of butcher blocks or the like. 7

. A further object of the inventionis: to

provide a scraper of this type wherein the cutters can be manually and selectively moved into and out of operative position, and when in operative position can be moved with adjustable pressure into contact with the work, thus allowing the operator to regulate the depth of the scraping action of the cutters, or in other words to allow the cutters to have afine or a coarse cutting effect.

Theinvention still further aims to provide a device of this type which is compact and simple and in which the same may be propelled by one hand of the operator over the surface and to also effect closing of the motor switch by use of that hand of the operator incident to the propelling or guiding movement of the device.

In the drawings:

Figure 1, is a side elevation of the invention partly broken away and in section;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary bottom plan view showing the preferred form of cutter;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sec- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 4, 1921.

Application filed April 9, 1921. Serial No. 460,070.

tional viewshowing the ball bearing rings present invention, a frame lis employed having a smooth bottom faceso as to easily ride over the surface to be cleaned. A motor 2 18 mounted on the frame 1 and has a fly wheel 3 and. a bevel gear 4 on its shaft. The

front end of the frame isformed with a housing having a tubular part 5 in which a vertically slidable rod or shaft 6 is mounted. A threaded bearing'plug 7 closes the upper end of the housing and has an aperture through which the shaft 6 passes. A collar 8 is rigidly affixed to the shaft 6 and slides therewith within the tubular part 5 of the housing, ball bearing rings 9 and 10 being engaged about the shaft and disposed on oppo'site sides of the collar. The lower end of the tubular housing part 5 is formed with a spring seat 11 on which engages the lower end of a coil spring 12, the opposite end of which spring bears against the ball ring 10. It will thus be noted that the shaft 6 is vertically slidable and is normally held upwardly and tensioned by the spring 12.

The lower end of the shaft has key-ways 13 in which are slidingly received the ends of threadedpins 14 borne by the hub of a bevel gear 15 which latter meshes with and isdriven bythe bevel gear 4. of the motor. Below the tubular part 5 the housing is formed with a seat 16 in which engages a thrust bearing'17 thatsupports the bevel gear 15.

A cutter 18 is secured to the lower end of the shaft Gandoperates in a chambered art 19 formed in the bottom face of the body 1, the chamber being sufficiently deep so that the cutter will normally lie above the bottom face of the body or be held by the spring completely within the chambery.

The cutter 18 is preferably of S-shape and is mounted on a hub 20 carried by the lower end of the shaft 6.

The arms of the cutter are slitted at 21, the slits being of varying lengths thereby to provide a series of separate and independent teeth, the ends of which are turneddowm g 27 is swiveled 1 formed of spring material and have angular teeth 26 of varying lengths as in the in-. stance of the cutter 18." A circular handle onto the upper end of the shaft 6, for a purpose shortly to be described. Carried by the outer end of the frame is an ordinary handle 28 similar to a carpenters plane handle, and adjacent the inner face of the handle is a pivoted trigger 29 which carries a fiber or other insulated pin 30 that 7 operates against a spring member 31, which Constitutes one terminal, to force the latter into contact with the other terminal 32, so as to close the circuit and operate the motor. The positive and negative Wires 33 for these terminals pass out through the top of the iron.

handle 28 and are connected with any source of electricity, thecords being long enough to allow free operations of the scraper, after the manner of an ordinary 7 electric hand The operator grasps the handle of the trigger and by'pressing thereon closes the circuit,v causing the motor to be operated and the cutters thereby revolved. With this Same hand the operator pushes the device over the block in any direction desired steering it by placing his other hand upon the handle 27 and pressing down on the latter, the downward pressure bringing the cutters into more or less intimate contact with the block. When the operator releases his hand the natural squeezing action thereof in gripping handle 28 will release the trigger 29, opening the switch and stopping the motor.

From the foregoing it will'be seen that the operator by regulating the manual pres- "bo dily resiliently sure exerted on the handle 27 can correspondingly regulate the degree of engagement of the teeth with the surface being operated upon, or inother words cause 'a coarse or fine scraping or cutting action of the teeth on such surface.

Further, the cutter carrying shaft is not only resiliently mounted, but the individual teeth themselves are independently movable or resilient in addition 'to. each arm being mounted, thus obtaining a compound resilient action of the partsjto thereby accommodate themselves to the irregularities of the. surface being scraped.

Any suitable abutment a on this shaft 6 checks undue upward movement thereof.

What is claimed is 1. In a surface scraper, a body having a vertical propelling handle, a motor on the body, a switch having a vertical part adjacent the handle for controlling the motor and for engagement by. the fingers of the hand of the'operator which grips'the handle, a

vertically movable springtensioned scraper carrying member borne by the body, means to drive said member from the motor, a

scraper having resilient teeth carried by said member, and a swiveled handle connected to e said member for guiding the device and for regulating the degreeof engagement of the scraper with the surface by mere depression ofthe handle and upon release to allow the spring to instantly raise the scraper out of engagement with'the surface. 7

' 2. In a hand controlled surface scraper,a bodyhaving a motor thereon and having a handle at one end, motor control means as sociatedwith the handle to be gripped with the latterin onehand of the operator, and

a depressible tensioned scraper at theother end of the body having a swiveled handle for engagement with the other hand of the operator, whereby to enable the device to be both guided across the surface being scraped and the degree of scraping regulated downward pressureon the handle. t

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature hereto. I

' ISAAOA. WATROUS. 

